Matthew Licina
The NCEO presented at the recent conference Worker Ownership: Expanding Typology and Exploring Dimensions," hosted by The Ownership Project (TOP) at Harvard Business School (HBS) on May 12-13, 2025. This event convened researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to explore the diverse landscape of employee ownership.
Matthew Licina
Following speculation and legislative hearings featuring testimony from interested parties, the state of Washington has officially eliminated its employee ownership program. Signed into law on May 19 by Governor Bob Ferguson (D), HB 2047 disbands and defunds the employee ownership program initially launched in 2023. The program was cut for purely fiscal reasons, with hopes of improving the state's budget. Despite the employee ownership program's elimination, the tax credit supporting employee ownership conversions is still active through June of 2026, with June 30, 2025 as the last day to apply.
Timothy Garbinsky
The NCEO is excited to announce that Graeme Nuttall, a pioneer of employee ownership in the United Kingdom and beyond, is joining the organization as an NCEO Fellow.
Scott Rodrick
In a keynote address today to the ESOP Association, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer expressed her support of ESOPs. “I want you to know that the Trump administration recognizes the real transformative power of employee stock ownership plans.” Referring to complaints by some in the ESOP community regarding how the Department of Labor (DOL) has conducted its regulatory oversight of ESOPs, she commented that “we’re here to undo the culture of harassment. . . . I understand how poor regulation and misguided agency agendas can directly impact business success. . . . It is my mission to support you, not regulate you into oblivion.”
Corey Rosen
A bipartisan bill in the Minnesota Senate (Senate File 3520) would amend several provisions of Minnesota’s cannabis statute to allow ESOP companies to own cannabis businesses. Technical issues with the current licensing law make ESOP trusts ineligible to be owners. Similar legislation was recently enacted in Maryland.
Corey Rosen
Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, just introduced two bills to encourage ESOPs.
Eva Lianos
The National Center for Employee Ownership is thrilled to announce that renowned journalist, podcast host, and bestselling author Guy Raz will deliver the keynote address at the 2025 NCEO Forum at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. As the author of How I Built This, Raz brings a wealth of knowledge on entrepreneurship, innovation, and business growth that perfectly aligns with the employee ownership community's vision. Guy Raz has interviewed hundreds of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and innovators, documenting their triumphs, failures, and pivotal moments that transformed their businesses. His unique ability to extract profound insights from these stories has earned him international acclaim and a devoted following. What makes Raz's approach particularly relevant to the employee ownership community is his focus on the human elements of business success—resilience, collaboration, shared purpose, and long-term thinking—values that are fundamental to thriving employee-owned companies.
Timothy Garbinsky
A new bill in the Oregon state legislature would give employee-owned businesses a purchasing preference for public contracting. HB 3646, which is sponsored by Representative Thủy Trần (D), alongside Representatives Andersen (D), Marsh (D) and Neron (D), and Senators Patterson (D), Sollman (D), and Weber (R), adds entities in which employees own at least 50% of the business (either directly or through an ESOP) to the list of preferred sources for public contracts, allowing them to receive the same preference currently given to benefit companies. This permits state agencies to select their bids even if they cost up to 5% more than the lowest bid from a non-preferred business. A work session for the bill is currently on the agenda of the May 13 meeting of the Oregon Senate Committee on Labor and Business.
Corey Rosen
A new NCEO paper, Expanding Employee Ownership: Models in the US, UK, Canada, France, and Slovenia (PDF; also see the embedded version below), explores the five leading models for trust-based employee ownership. Research and experience show that holding employee ownership in a trust, rather than individually owning shares, tends to be the most sustainable form of employee ownership. Companies generally need tax or other incentives to create and fund the plans for employee ownership to grow. Also, employee ownership is more likely to be widely adopted in forms that are funded in whole or in part by the company, rather than just by employees. These five models are the only legislatively supported models that combine all these features.
